I just decided that I was going to collect 15mm Vietnam figures for a homemade ruleset that my friend Tim has in the making. Now the 40% off sale at Old Glory was also a deciding factor as well. Here is the information on my efforts:
link
So I went and bought three to four packs of Americans and the same in NVA; I rounded off with two packs of VC as well. Since Old Glory doesn't carry ARVN, I went with Peter Pig and bought about ten packs (8 figs each) of ARVN and a few others to see how they are in general.
I must say that for the future, buy Peter Pig or quality Castings, the Old Glory were a little bit of a disappointment, with so few poses, the acrobatic poses become a little too obvious when based together.
Now I am going to base squads as three to a 1.5" by 1" base. I had also thought to make weapon teams on 1" by 1" stands, but I figure a three figure squad with discernible weapons would be just fine. I also figure that if I play a different rule set, the stands could be teams or platoons.
Painting VC.
For the VC, the problem was how to show a difference in painting all black uniforms. Now the details would pop out, but the figure as a whole would fade away; so I opted for the dark grey look.
The figures are based on a craft stick, about four each, you need space to drybrush between them as well as picking out details. I drybrushed Gesso on as a primer for the highlights and left the open metal in the recesses.
From here I washed the figure with half-half water Future wash with black from Delta's Ceramcoat. Once dry, I then drybrushed the figure with Delta's Charcoal which is a nice mix of grey on black. This picks out the little details that I will be using differnt colors on. I opted the paint the faces and arms, but not the hands on weapons; those I do after the weapon is done.
From here I paint the rice sack, the one with all the bumps on it, with Light Timberline Green. The Chicom front pack went to Trail Tan, along with the coolie hat.
With the weapon, I went with a dark gunmetal and trimmed the wood with Bambi Brown. Since the hands are not painted I can do that pretty quickly and when I am done, a touch up of the hands and I am nearly done. I know that the weapon is essentially black, but I like having the metal effect, especially at 15mm the contrast is good to see on the table.
For the base, I have a pot of exterior brown paint with texture and plaster of paris mix in it. With a cheap #2 pig bristle brush, I can push up the blobs of paint against the plinth like bases and make them blend into the precut metal bases.
This is usually where I use the Minwax dip to seal the whole figure and outline everything in brown/black. It leaves a slight glossy sheen, but at 15mm the effect is good. It also drops the hat and wood colors down to a darker shade. Since we didn't prime the whole figure, the Minway dip seals the whole figure quite effectively. From here, when dry, a dry brush of yellow ochre and then sand gives the final base color; add PVA and flock in patches and you are done.
Painting the ARVN.
Not sure what I am going to do with this. Most uniforms are just OD green, in smaller sizes. I am going to leave the Ranger/Marine and Paratroop units for later. I decided that the local production uniforms will be a different shade then what I am going to do for the US Army.
I start with basing on sticks again, drybrush with the Gesso and wash with Delta Ceramcoat's Dark Green. About as black with a green tinge I can get. From here I went with a heavy drybrush of Timberline Green and then a lighter drybrush of Light Timberline Green. This picks out the LCE equipment and packs, etc.
From here as before, Face and arms, leave the hands. Paint the weapon Charcoal and the pick out the metal parts with dark gunmetal; finally bring the hands out with a wet brush.
Base color and the Dip, dry and finish the base.
The overall effect is a lighter green uniform than the US Army figures.
Painting the US ARMY.
Now I am sure that you are getting the idea of how this goes. Once the figure is primed, the wash is still the Black Green, but the first drybrush is OD Green mixed from Yellow Ochre and straight black. I want to try the Delta Ceramcoat Avocado and Alpine Green mix, but I can't find the Avocado color. The highlight drybrush is Basil, which gives a good contrast in a lighter green, but still darker then the ARVN figures. For about a thrid of the figures, Autum Brown is the skin color and the rest get a pinker flesh tone.
Once dipped and based they are done also.
Overall.
The method is quick and the drybrush and dip fill in the recesess so that only the specific inspection will show. But since the scale is at 15mm, I don't really expect to find that a problem. I still would like a slightly greater difference for the ARVN and US ARMY figures, but unless I really accent the flesh colors or change the base colors that may not be easy. The advantage for using Peter Pig's ARVN, is that they are actually a head smaller and the helmet looks huge on them.
